Content descriptions

Prologue: the pursuit of happiness -- Versailles on the Potomac: the 1790s -- Founders' grounds: 1800-1809 -- Gentlemen's occupation: 1810s-1830s -- Embellishments: 1840s-1880s -- Gilded gardens: 1880s-1900s -- Home front: 1910s-1940s -- America the beautiful: 1940s-1990s -- Is green the new red, white, and blue?, 1990s and beyond -- Epilogue -- First gardeners: the men who planted for presidents -- All the presidents' plants: two centuries of shrubs, trees, and vines.

Summary, etc.:

"In this rich and compelling narrative, garden historian Marta McDowell traces the story of how the White House grounds were conceived and how they have changed from administration to administration. From George Washington's obsession with collecting trees to Michelle Obama's kitchen garden, McDowell shows how the White House grounds are a reflection of America's enthusiasms."--Dust jacket. The front and back yard for the first family, the White House is by extension the nation's first garden. McDowell starts her story with the seed-collecting, plant-obsessed George Washington and ends with Michelle Obama's focus on edibles, to create a compelling narrative of how the garden is also the story of America.